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Re: impulse/momentum



Hi all-
In the spirit of my answer to Jim Green I will ask Bob: Why should
this be emphasized in the first lecture? The suggestion has been made
that this might very well be much more than the student wants to know at
that time.
Regards,
Jack

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003, Bob Sciamanda wrote:

The first lecture in an Intro Mech course should emphasize that revolutions
in physics are unique (compared to the "humanities"). In physics an
accepted model will have been tried and proven useful, by experimental
tests. The new, rival model must include these results as a special case of
a wider model. He must embrace his predecessor and stand on his shoulders,
in order to see farther. Contrast this with revolutions in the
non-scientific fields.

Newtonian Mechanics is an exceedingly useful model - and will always be so -
both as a learning first step, and as a lasting tool for countless practical
applications.

Bob Sciamanda
Physics, Edinboro Univ of PA (Em)
http://www.velocity.net/~trebor/
trebor@velocity.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack Uretsky" <jlu@HEP.ANL.GOV>
To: <PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 1:58 PM
Subject: Re: impulse/momentum


Jim, you are really raising a number of points here. A decade ago
I decided to get a high school teaching certificate; as part of the course
I student-taught at a local high school. The chair, who was my suprvisor,
had been running a very succussful program requiring 3 physics teachers
plus others for the so-called physical science courses. He was very
critical of my opening remarks, which were somewhat along the line you
suggested. His criticism, possibly well-based, was that young students
don't want to be told that they're not getting the best, the latest, and
the most blessed that the educational system has to offer. So my answer
to your question "Can't we say...?" is: I don't know. At some point the
interested student is going to find out what is being offered in the big
tent. Don't give him/her more than it wants to know.
. . .
Regards,
Jack

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003, Jim Green wrote:

What we are endeavoring to teach - no! What we are endeavoring
to
make available to the students is the opportunity to attack problems
that
they have never seen before, because that is what they will be doing in
real life. We can model for them how we attack such problems, but the
actual solutions are irrelevant.
. . .
True enough, Jack, but there is no need of camouflaging reality. Can't
we
say as we approach Newton's Laws with an introduction that explains that
Newton only deals with slow speeds ie common speeds Ie only those that
are
everyday -- and it does this quite well -- but that later in physics
education we will deal with faster speeds and then Newton doesn't work.
. . .
Jim Green


--
"Don't push the river, it flows by itself"
Frederick Perls